In this section

MEDIEVAL MILLS

Within the immediate vicinity of York was a number
of mills of various kinds, some of which undoubtedly
served the city in the Middle Ages as did others in
later times. Some indication of their variety is given
in an order of 1495 which fixed prices of flour and
malt: it was to apply to all millers having 'any mill,
windmill, watermill or horsemill within this city,
suburbs and precincts of the same, as well the
Castle Mills as other'. (fn. 1)

Apart from Castle Mills, there were only two
water-mills. Hob Moor, or Folly, Water-mill stood
on Holgate Beck adjoining the moor. Together with
an adjacent close of 2 acres, it is mentioned in 1563
as corporation property; (fn. 2) it was destroyed by fire
in 1600, rebuilt by 1601, and let out by the corporation in 1602 for 26s. 8d. a year. (fn. 3) In 1605 the rent,
then 20s. a year, was excused because the mill was
at times used to house plague victims and, when it
was not, because the plague lodges (fn. 4) on Hob Moor
discouraged people from taking corn to the mill. (fn. 5)
The mill had probably been destroyed by the early
18th century: in 1723 Hob Mill Close was let, 'the
house being down'. (fn. 6)

The second water-mill was that on the Foss belonging to St. Mary's Abbey. It is mentioned in
descriptions of the city boundaries from the late
14th to the early 18th centuries; (fn. 7) in 1746 the mill
gate was said to stand 340 yards along the road
from Monk Bridge (now Huntington Road). (fn. 8) Having
been surrendered at the Dissolution, the mill was
leased by the corporation from the Crown for
£6 6s. 8d. a year between 1594 and 1599. William
Peacock paid an identical rent for a sub-lease from
the corporation during those years. (fn. 9) The city
attempted to secure a new Crown lease, but in 1600
the mill was leased to Henry Pulleyn. Pulleyn agreed
to sell his title to the corporation, however, and
Peacock was sent to London to secure a lease for the
city; in fact, Peacock got the lease for himself.
Although much displeased, the corporation agreed
in 1601 to allow Peacock to retain the lease provided
that an annual payment was made to recompense
them for their loss. Peacock's lease excluded 'the
flood mill' at the mill. (fn. 10) In bequeathing his lease of
the mill in 1624, Peacock described it as 'Abbey
Mills alias Foss Mills'. (fn. 11) This suggests that the 'Foss
Mills' which William Trigge sold to Sir Arthur
Ingram for £20 in 1629 (fn. 12) were, in fact, the mills
lately of St. Mary's Abbey. This may also be the
identification of the 'Minster Mills' which Ingram
bought in 1637. (fn. 13) Nothing is known of the mill after
1746 and it seems likely that it was removed when
the Foss was made navigable.

Clifton, or Lady, Windmill in Burton Stone Lane
is mentioned in descriptions of the city boundaries
from the late 14th to the early 19th centuries: in
1374 and 1413 it was described as formerly belonging to John de Roucliff, in 1442 and 1444 to the
heirs of Sir William Ingleby, and in 1721 and 1733
then or formerly to Sir William Robinson. (fn. 14) The
mill is shown on Lund's map of 1772; (fn. 15) a newly
erected brick windmill there was offered for sale in
1817; (fn. 16) and it was still standing in 1852. (fn. 17) No trace
of the buildings now remains.

A windmill known at different times as White
Cross, (fn. 18) Bootham Stray, and Pepper Mill is shown
on Lund's map of 1772; (fn. 19) it was still standing in
1852 on a site between the present White Cross
Road and the City Hospital. (fn. 20) As Pepper Mill it
was in existence by 1575. (fn. 21) No trace now remains.

In 1734 there were three mill hills on Heworth
Moor. (fn. 22) At least one of the mills on the moor was
owned and let out by the corporation in the 16th
century. (fn. 23) A mill is shown on Lund's map of 1772, (fn. 24)
and one certainly existed in the 19th century: a post
windmill there was offered for sale in 1790, (fn. 25) as
were a corn mill in 1814 (fn. 26) and the materials of a mill
'lately standing' in 1840. (fn. 27) A windmill was still standing at the junction of Glen Road and Harcourt Street
in 1852. (fn. 28) No trace of the mills now remains.

Holgate Mill, perhaps a successor of the mill
owned by the archbishop in 1366 (fn. 29) and of that
standing near the village of Holgate in 1433, (fn. 30) still
stood in 1958 on the north side of the York-Acomb
road. It remained in use until 1933, having been
worked by its sails until 1930. (fn. 31) The mill was restored,
though not in working order, by the corporation in
1955 and 1956. (fn. 32)

Several windmills have stood on The Mount, outside Micklegate Bar. At least one was in existence
by the 13th century (fn. 33) and Mount Mills survived in
1852. (fn. 34) At different times, various mills have been
described as standing outside Micklegate Bar: for
example, the corporation decided in 1620 to rebuild
a windmill in York Field; (fn. 35) the Street Windmill was
offered for sale in 1753; (fn. 36) a recently erected steam
mill, and a smock mill known as Scarcroft Mill,
were mentioned in 1840; (fn. 37) a post windmill stood in
York Field in 1831; (fn. 38) a smock mill was lately built
in 1783; (fn. 39) and a windmill was offered for sale in
1825. (fn. 40) No trace now remains of the mills in The
Mount area. (fn. 41)

St. Clement's Priory possessed two windmills near
Clementhorpe in the 16th century, (fn. 42) one presumably
that which is later described as Nun Mill. In 1546
the hill on which the mill had stood was granted to
two Ripon men; (fn. 43) in 1587 the title to Crown leases
was in dispute between Edward Helme and the
corporation; (fn. 44) this was probably the windmill 'nigh
Scarcroft' for which the corporation paid a rent to
the Crown in 1593, 1599, and 1600; (fn. 45) and the corporation leases in 1620 (fn. 46) and 1689 (fn. 47) may have been
of mills on this site. Nun Mill is shown on Lund's
map of 1772 (fn. 48) and was standing in 1852. (fn. 49) The last
mill is said to have been removed about 1885 (fn. 50) and
the site was in 1958 occupied by the Southlands
Wesleyan chapel at the junction of Southlands Road
and Bishopthorpe Road.

St. Mary's Abbey possessed three windmills near
the city. One stood in Paynlathes Croft on the west
side of the road from York to Yearsley Bridge,
opposite the abbey's water-mill. (fn. 51) A second, situated
between the Ouse and the York-Clifton road, (fn. 52) is
mentioned in descriptions of the city boundaries
from the late 14th to the early 18th centuries: (fn. 53) from
the late 17th century these descriptions refer to a
place where the mill formerly stood. The third was
on 'Siward Mill Hill' in Heslington (E.R.). (fn. 54) A windmill in Fulford Field, offered for sale in 1767, (fn. 55) may
have been that referred to as Lamel Mill in 1836
when it was decayed. (fn. 56)

A windmill belonging to St. Nicholas's Hospital
is mentioned in descriptions of the city boundaries
from the late 14th to the early 18th centuries; (fn. 57) in
the early 18th century these descriptions refer to a
windmill hill and not to the mill itself. The mill
apparently stood on the north side of the present
Hull Road, not far from the junction with Tang
Hall Lane; this was the position of Mill Field in
1772 (fn. 58) and the name is preserved in several modern
street names.

A mill devised to the vicars choral by Archbishop
Romeyn in the 13th century cannot be identified. (fn. 59)

Castle Mills were the most important in the city.
A water-mill may have been constructed soon after
the damming of the Foss; (fn. 60) certainly mills near the
castle were in existence from the early 12th to the
mid-19th centuries. The modern mills stood on
the west bank of the Foss, close to the site of the dam,
but the exact location of their predecessors is not
clear. Cooper has suggested that the earliest Castle
Mills stood nearer to the Ouse and used a mill pool
lying below the dam, but gives no conclusive
evidence. (fn. 61) It appears that in the early 13th century
the mills did not use the dam, but were worked by
water from a ditch, constructed between 1215 and
1216 around the Walmgate area from the Fishpond
of the Foss to a point beneath the dam; (fn. 62) in 1226
the owners of the mills complained that earth falling
into this ditch deprived them of an adequate supply
of water. (fn. 63) This does not, however, imply that the
mills were necessarily at any great distance from the
dam, or that they were on the east bank of the Foss
where Cooper places them.

Indeed, it seems likely that the mills were from
the first situated on the west bank, if not on the
19th-century mill site. This is supported by the
description of a piece of land granted to the Templars
in 1231, (fn. 64) and by the circumstances of two 14thcentury cases of drowning which took place in the
mill stream on the west side of Otter Holmes, the
island lying in the Foss below the dam. (fn. 65) It is
unlikely that the ditch remained for long a permanent
source of water for the mills; at some point the mill
site was presumably moved to the dam itself. The
mills constantly needed repair during the 14th and
15th centuries, (fn. 66) but on several occasions a complete
rebuilding was necessary and may also have involved
a change of site. In 1316, for example, the mills were
'constructed anew and repaired' after being 'wholly
decayed', (fn. 67) and very extensive work was carried out
on them in 1348 (fn. 68) and 1360. (fn. 69) The mills certainly
appear to have been on the west bank, near St.
George's Chapel, (fn. 70) in 1477 (fn. 71) and in the late 16th
century. (fn. 72) In 1580 the mill dam and banks were
said to be decayed. (fn. 73)

The modern Castle Mills stood close to the
bridge (fn. 74) which was built over the Foss at the site of
the dam. It is not clear when this site was first used,
but there is little to support Cooper's suggestion of
a rebuilding of the mills during the first half of the
17th century, (fn. 75) despite Widdrington's statement
that 'before the building of the mills . . . which is
not many years since, as I have heard, the place
where the mills are, was a fair green and the only
passage from Fishergate Postern to the Castle'. (fn. 76)

The mills certainly stood on the modern site in
1772. (fn. 77) They were rebuilt in 1778 and were perhaps
steam-driven from that time, as they certainly were
by 1797. (fn. 78) In 1733 the mills were said to be dry
'above half the year' (fn. 79) and by 1808 were workable
by either water or steam; (fn. 80) and in 1824, when
equipped for flour-grinding, oat-shelling, and lineand tow-spinning, they were said to be workable
by water for a considerable part of the year and by
a steam-engine at all times. (fn. 81) The mills were demolished in 1856. (fn. 82)

The mills apparently came into the possession of
Niel Daubeney (d. between 1130 and 1135) at an
early date: he devised the tithes of the mills to Holy
Trinity Priory. (fn. 83) The mills had been given to the
Knights Templar by Roger de Mowbray before
1185 when they were let for 15½ marks. (fn. 84) The
Templars appear to have had the mills in 1206, (fn. 85)
and in 1231 the king gave them timber for their
repair. (fn. 86) The preceptor of the Templars' house at
Copmanthorpe (W.R.) was stated to be keeper of
the mills in 1292. (fn. 87) In 1270 the mills were valued at
12 marks a year, when costs, charges, and tithes had
been paid; (fn. 88) in 1308 they were valued at £10 11s. (fn. 89)
An inventory of goods in the mills was made by the
Crown in 1311 and the Templars' suppression was
confirmed by the pope in the following year. (fn. 90)

After a period in Crown hands, the mills were
granted to the Hospitallers; Sir John de Mowbray
then asserted a claim to the mills which had been
granted to the Templars by Roger de Mowbray,
and John held them for a year before they again
came into the possession of the Crown. (fn. 91) An inquiry
held in 1315 revealed that successive keepers of the
mills—the Templars, de Mowbray, and the sheriffs
—had allowed them to remain in disrepair, (fn. 92) and
the first of several 14th-century renovations was
carried out in 1316. (fn. 93) In 1323 the mills were leased
to a Ripon (W.R.) man and in 1403 to Thomas
Welburne, a York baker. (fn. 94) In 1408 they were granted
for life to Robert Mauleverer and were then said to
be worth £12 a year. (fn. 95) Mauleverer, having upheld
his right against a grant to Welburne in 1414, (fn. 96) held
the mills until at least 1436, (fn. 97) but they were again
in Crown hands by 1450. (fn. 98) The mills had been
valued at £12 a year in both 1436 and 1450. In 1452
they were granted to St. Leonard's Hospital in
recompense for housebote and haybote formerly
enjoyed in the Forest of Galtres. (fn. 99) The hospital
upheld its title against a grant to Thomas Eldyrton
in 1460, (fn. 100) and received confirmatory grants in 1464
and 1465. (fn. 101)

Recovered by the Crown at the Dissolution, (fn. 102) the
mills were in 1570 leased to Francis Guilpyn for
£12, (fn. 103) and in 1575 and 1579 Miles Fell was the
tenant. (fn. 104) In 1584 the corporation was granted a 60year lease for £12 a year, (fn. 105) and the mills were immediately sub-let to Fell, now called a miller, at the
same rent. (fn. 106) In 1589 the city's sub-tenants were Fell
and Alderman Andrew Trewe who were allowed a
reduction in their rent because the mill banks and
dam had recently been broken. (fn. 107) Subsequent repairs
may have provided the corporation with an opportunity to increase the rent: although the Crown rent
remained unchanged, the city received £20 from
Alderman Trewe from 1591 to 1598. (fn. 108) In 1599 the
corporation learned that the Crown was proposing
to sell the mills, and a gift of £20 was sent to the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, with a request that
the city's lease might be renewed. Despite many
such representations the mills were, in fact, sold to
John Mansfield and David Waterhouse of the Inner
Temple, and the corporation was obliged to surrender its interest in them in July 1600. (fn. 109)

In 1603 Sir Thomas Hesketh, of Heslington Hall
(E.R.), bought the mills from John Milner and
David and Stephen Waterhouse for £700. (fn. 110) Hesketh
intended to build a hospital in Heslington and to
endow it with the £50 rent-charge of Castle Mills;
he died without achieving this, but his wishes were
fulfilled in 1630. (fn. 111) The mills were held by a member
of the Hesketh family in 1632: he was asked to
repair the causeway and highway nearby, as this was
the liability of the owner and tenants of the mills. (fn. 112)
The mills had been destroyed by 1646 when the
corporation repaired the mill dam, (fn. 113) but in 1648 two
aldermen were deputed to discuss with 'Mr. Hesketh' the making of a contract for rebuilding and
leasing the mills. (fn. 114)

Having been rebuilt, the mills had by 1793 been
leased to Henry Yarburgh, as successor of the
Heskeths. In that year the Foss Navigation Company was empowered to purchase the interest in the
mills held by Yarburgh and his sub-lessees. (fn. 115) In
1853 the mills passed to the corporation with its
purchase of the Foss Navigation Company's undertaking; (fn. 116) during preliminary discussions the sale was
said to be subject to the company's liabilities, and
among them was the payment of an annuity to
Heslington Hospital. (fn. 117)

In 1855 the corporation agreed that the mills, then
in a dilapidated condition, should be demolished,
and the mill machinery was sold in August that
year. (fn. 118)

THE FISHPOND OF THE FOSS

When William I dammed the River Foss just below
the castle in order to secure an adequate supply of
water for the castle ditches, he also submerged a
large tract of land; this stretch of water not only
formed an important link in the city's defences (fn. 119) but
became a valuable royal fishery. The Domesday
account of the city records that two new mills worth
20s. a year and 'fully a carucate' of arable land,
meadows, and gardens were inundated by the king's
pool. (fn. 120) In the early 14th century (fn. 121) the pond was said
to extend northwards from near Castle Mills: one
arm reached to St. Mary's water-mill on the Foss, (fn. 122)
another to a wooden cross standing between the
lands of St. Nicholas's Hospital and those of the
prebend of Fridaythorpe. (fn. 123) On the north and south
of the broad and unfordable pool, the Foss was
crossed by Layerthorpe and Foss Bridges. (fn. 124) Along
the low-lying western bank of the fishpond lay the
area known as The Marsh.

The king made many gifts of fish (bream and pike
are mentioned) from the pond to courtiers, prelates,
and religious houses. (fn. 125) The keepers were responsible
for the sale of fish, (fn. 126) the profits helping to cover the
expenses of repairs to the pond and Castle Mills. (fn. 127)
Boats, other than those belonging to the king, were
occasionally allowed on the pond: in 1314 the Carmelite Friars were licensed to build a quay on the
pond and to keep a boat there for transporting
building materials; (fn. 128) in 1393 the city was allowed to
use a boat to carry materials for work on Foss
Bridge. (fn. 129)

The pond and fishery were supervised by keepers
appointed by the king; (fn. 130) their wages, often stated to
have been 6d. a day, (fn. 131) were paid by the sheriff out
of the issues of Yorkshire. (fn. 132) The keepers were sometimes York men, (fn. 133) sometimes members of the royal
court. (fn. 134) Their activities show that the keepers did
not always enjoy the office as a sinecure: indeed, in
1391 a king's esquire was appointed on condition
that he should reside in York and execute the office
in person. (fn. 135) Other keepers employed deputies, a
practice authorized, for example, in the grant of the
keepership in 1429. (fn. 136) Keepers did not, however,
always fulfil their duties to the king's liking: the
pond was frequently allowed to decay, and in 1437
the keeper was alleged to have fixed nets and other
'engines' and caught fish 'to no small amount'. (fn. 137) The
sheriffs and keepers were responsible for the upkeep
of the pond and were frequently obliged to repair
both banks and dam. (fn. 138) Between 1354 and 1355, for
example, the sheriff accounted for the use of 124
oaks, for their carriage from the Forest of Galtres,
for the wages of carpenters and other workmen, and
for nails, tar, and other materials. His total expenses
of about £122 were partially offset by about £35
received from the sale of fish. (fn. 139)

The extent of ground claimed by the king was 'as
much as the water occupies, so that the water be in
the channel within the banks everywhere'; but the
keepers also claimed grass growing on the banks:
they were entitled to take as much as could be mown
with a little scythe, while keeping one foot in the
boat, and while the water was at its summer level. (fn. 140)
The sheriffs, however, often went further and
appropriated land verging on the pond: most
notorious were the activities of Sheriff Crepping
(1250-3) who took meadowland belonging to St.
Nicholas's Hospital and the prebend of Fridaythorpe, (fn. 141) both of whose rights were later upheld. (fn. 142)

In the early 16th century, keepers were not always
appointed and the custody and fishing of the pond
were farmed. In 1503 they were granted to the archbishop and John Cutte, 'king's servant', for 21 years
at 5 marks a year. (fn. 143) A keeper was again appointed
in 1509, (fn. 144) but in 1513 the custody and fishing were
granted to Thomas, Lord Darcy, and George Darcy;
Lord Darcy still held them in 1521, (fn. 145) 1526, (fn. 146) and
1528. (fn. 147) In 1524 the reversion of the custody and
fishing had been granted to Richard Forster, yeoman
of the Chamber. (fn. 148)

In February 1543 the corporation recalled that in
1537 the Duke of Norfolk had ordered the mayor
'to see for keeping' of the Foss to the king's use.
Subsequently the corporation, wishing to avoid the
expense of carrying this out, had allowed Sir George
Lawson to hold the pond. At Lawson's death in
1543 the mayor reassumed the responsibility of
keeping the pond for the king, and in February of
that year he instructed the York M.P.s to seek for
the city either a lease or the keepership of the pond. (fn. 149)
In May 1543 the fishery, fishing, and hawking of the
Foss were in fact leased to six York men (including
the two M.P.s) for 21 years at a rent of £3 6s. 8d.
with an annual increase of 3s. 4d. (fn. 150) No later grants
of the custody of the pond have been found. (fn. 151)

The pond and the fishery were later granted by
the Crown to the Nevils, lords of Sheriff Hutton
(N.R.), and they remained in the hands of successive
owners of that manor. (fn. 152) The fishery was recorded as
being part of the manor in 1545, 1628 and 1685. (fn. 153)
From 1685 until 1854 the pond was in the hands of
the Ingram family as owners of the manor. In 1793
the Foss Navigation Company acquired the right to
make the Foss navigable and assumed the responsibility of paying the rent of the fishpond (£3 10s. a
year) to the heirs of Lord Ingram, 9th Viscount
Irvine. (fn. 154) 'Foss Islands' were bought by the corporation from Hugo Charles Meynell Ingram (fn. 155) under
the Foss Purchase Act of 1853. (fn. 156)

The 18th-century name, Foss Islands, is indicative
of the decayed state of the fish pond. From early
times it had gradually decreased in extent and depth
by the deposition of silt, sewage, and filth; (fn. 157) land
around the pond was reclaimed and granted by the
Crown to York citizens; (fn. 158) and in the 16th century,
it was necessary on several occasions to order the
removal of rubbish and the widening of the water
where it had been encroached upon by garths. (fn. 159)
After the islands and marshes had been bought by
the corporation in 1853, the land was drained, Foss
Islands Road made to replace the then existing footpath, (fn. 160) and gas, electricity, and railway works built
on part of the site. (fn. 161)

66. Many orders for their repair are contained in the Close
and Patent Rolls, e.g. Cal. Close, 1318-23, 273; see also
Cooper, Hist. Castle York, 122-3; the account for work
done in 1379 is print. ibid. 123-5; see also E 101/501/15,
502/23; E 364/14, 18, 30.

130. Many appointments are recorded in the Close and
Patent Rolls between 1280 and 1495; see, e.g. Cal. Pat.
1317-21, 224; a list of keepers is given in T. P. Cooper,
York, story of its Walls, &c. 331-4; one grant, in 1495,
was of the 'fosgraveship and keeping' of the Foss: Cal.
Pat. 1494-1509, 13-14.